1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an adjustable spray nozzle which provides a relatively narrow but elongate spray pattern, the length of which is selectively controlled by utilizing an adjustable sleeve or the like to intercept and deflect end portions of an elongate but non-uniform discharge spray pattern back into a central portion of the spray pattern to provide a resulting spray pattern that is of controllable length, and which is relatively uniform along its length both with respect to spray pattern width and density.
2. Prior Art
Fixed configuration spray nozzles of a variety of types have been proposed for discharging gas-carried sprays of liquids such as paint, primer, sealer, rustproofing material, undercoating material and the like. One such fixed-configuration nozzle is disclosed in the referenced Spraying Apparatus Case, where a nozzle of fixed configuration is depicted as being carried at the end of an elongate wand of the type used to apply rustproofing and undercoating materials to vehicles.
Adjustable spray nozzles of a variety of types have also have been proposed. However, with most adjustable spray nozzles, the mechanisms by which the configurations of the nozzles are adjusted to vary their discharge spray patterns are undesirably complex and expensive. Moreover, these mechanisms tend to occupy undesirably large amounts of space.
The undesirably large sizes of previously proposed adjustable spray nozzle assemblies prohibits many of them from being used on the end of an elongate wand or the like in applications where the wand must be capable of being inserted through relatively small openings to properly position the nozzle assemblies for discharging materials to be sprayed. Accordingly, the elongate wands used in rustproofing and undercoating operations are usually provided with fixed configuration nozzles of the general type disclosed in the referenced Spraying Apparatus Case. If more than one type of fixed configuration nozzle is needed to achieve a plurality of desired spray patterns, either the wand is provided with a means of interchangeably coupling a variety of fixed-configuration nozzles to the wand, or a plurality of wands carrying a different fixed-configuration nozzles are provided for interchangeable connection to a valve-controlled spraying canister. These different fixed-configuration nozzles or wands carrying different fixed-configuration nozzles are interchanged, as needed during an application of material being sprayed, to provide the desired types of discharge spray patterns.
While adjustable spray nozzles of various forms have been proposed, there remains a need for an adjustable spray nozzle which will provide a particularly desirable type of spray pattern that is (1) relatively narrow in width, (2) relatively elongate in length, (3) relatively uniform in spray pattern width and density along its length, and (4) the length of which may be adjustably controlled.